Del. Shelly Simonds

Zoning; development and use of accessory dwelling units. Requires a locality to include in its zoning ordinances for single-family residential zoning districts accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, as defined in the bill, as a permitted accessory use. The bill requires a person to seek a permit for an ADU from the locality, requires the locality to issue such permit if the person meets certain requirements enumerated in the bill, and restricts the fee for such permit to $500 or less. The bill prohibits the locality from requiring (i) dedicated parking for the ADU except in densely developed neighborhoods; (ii) setbacks for the ADU greater than that of the primary dwelling; and (iii) consanguinity or affinity between the occupants of the ADU and the primary dwelling. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026. This bill was incorporated into HB 2533.

Wildlife corridors or crossings; action plan and programs; Virginia Flood Protection Master Plan; Wildlife Corridor Action Plan; wildlife carcass removal tracking; report. Requires the Wildlife Corridor Action Plan created by the Department of Wildlife Resources to address the financial needs of the Plan and implement certain additional initiatives. The bill directs the Department of Conservation and Recreation to include in the Virginia Flood Protection Master Plan a directive to encourage opportunities to incorporate wildlife-friendly design in flood resilience infrastructure where flood risk priorities align with priorities of the Wildlife Corridor Action Plan. The bill requires the Department of Transportation to (i) establish and administer a program for the implementation of wildlife crossings of highways in the Commonwealth, (ii) incorporate the recommendations of the Wildlife Corridor Action Plan established by the Department of Wildlife Resources pursuant to existing law in the policies and procedures of the Department, and (iii) submit a report to the General Assembly in each even-numbered year regarding such program. The bill requires the Department of Transportation and the Commonwealth Transportation Board to include in all highway maintenance contracts a requirement for such contractor to identify certain data related to wildlife carcass removal and provides that such requirement may be accomplished by using the Department of Transportation's Wildlife Carcass Removal Tracking application.

State Board of Local and Regional Jails; work group to review standards and regulations for pregnant and postpartum incarcerated persons in local and regional correctional facilities; report. Directs the State Board of Local and Regional Jails to convene a work group to conduct a review of existing standards for pregnant and postpartum incarcerated persons in local and regional correctional facilities and to develop recommendations for new standards and recommendations for pregnant and postpartum incarcerated persons by considering certain best practices. The bill requires the work group to report such findings and recommendations to the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security and to the Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees for Courts of Justice, the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services, and the House Committee on Public Safety by July 1, 2026, and to adopt regulations consistent with such findings and recommendations by December 1, 2027.

Health insurance; cost sharing for breast examinations. Prohibits health insurance carriers from imposing cost sharing for diagnostic breast examinations and supplemental breast examinations, as those terms are defined in the bill, under certain insurance policies, subscription contracts, and health care plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in the Commonwealth on and after January 1, 2026. The bill provides that such examinations include examinations using diagnostic mammography, breast magnetic resonance imaging, or breast ultrasound. This bill is a recommendation of the Health Insurance Reform Commission. This bill was incorporated into SB 1436.

Public schools; Standards of Quality; certain calculations; support services. Requires the Department of Education, (i) in calculating the deduction of federal funds in the Standards of Quality funding formula, to examine actual school division spending on support costs as a percentage of actual school division spending on all public education costs, with certain exceptions such as food service, and (ii) in calculating the costs in the Standards of Quality funding formula beginning with fiscal year 2029, to include all employee benefit costs incurred by a majority of school divisions, including costs related to retirement, health care, life insurance, and payout of earned but unused leave. The bill also requires support services positions to be funded based on a calculation of prevailing costs and prohibits such positions from being subject to any method of funding calculation that caps the number of funded support services positions based on a ratio of such positions to students enrolled in the school division, with the exception of certain support services positions enumerated in the bill. This bill was incorporated into HB 1954.

Superintendent of Public Instruction; duties; fixed and actual school staffing ratios. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to biennially calculate, compare, and report to the Board of Education and the General Assembly the differences between the fixed staffing ratios in the Standards of Quality funding formula and the actual staffing ratios in local school divisions in the Commonwealth so that such fixed staffing ratios can be regularly adjusted as needed to more closely approximate such actual staffing ratios.

Superintendent of Public Instruction; employment of certified school library specialists. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to employ in the Department of Education at least one certified school library specialist who fulfills several duties enumerated in the bill, including providing leadership and technical assistance with the implementation and use of information literacy skills to support student achievement for local school divisions, Department staff, and other stakeholders and directing the implementation of state and national school library standards and consulting with and providing technical assistance to local school divisions relating to such standards.

Collective bargaining by firefighters and emergency medical services providers. Authorizes firefighters and emergency medical services providers employed by a political subdivision of the Commonwealth to engage in collective bargaining through labor organizations or other designated representatives. The bill provides for the appointment of a three-member board of arbitration regarding any dispute arising between an employer and firefighters or emergency medical services providers. Under the bill, determinations made by such board of arbitration are final on a disputed issue and are binding on the parties involved.

Early childhood care and education; publicly funded providers. Provides that any locality wishing to participate in the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) must submit a proposal by May 15 of each year identifying a lead VPI agency responsible for developing a local plan for the delivery of preschool services to at-risk children. A local match based on the composite index of local ability to pay is required to fund such a proposal. The proposal must include the number of at-risk four-year-olds and three-year-olds to be served and eligibility criteria for participation. Upon acceptance, the Department will disburse state VPI funds to the lead VPI agency in such localities, which may be used with local matching funds to provide preschool education, health services, social services, parental involvement services, and transportation. The Department must establish academic standards for VPI programs that prepare students to successfully enter kindergarten. Full day VPI programs must operate for a minimum of five and a half instructional hours per day, while half day VPI programs operate for a minimum of three instructional hours per day. The bill requires the Department of Education to collect information from VPI and the Mixed Delivery Grant Program to compile a comprehensive report on the use of state funds, including the number of slots and funding allocated to each local program or provider and the number of slots that have been filled. The bill codifies the Child Care Subsidy Program, which is currently established pursuant to regulations of the Board of Education, for the purpose of assisting families who meet certain eligibility criteria with the cost of child care provided by approved vendors. The bill requires the Child Care Subsidy Program to be overseen by the Department of Education and permits the Department to contract with state and local agencies to administer the Program. The bill requires the Department and Board of Education, as applicable, to establish rules, regulations, policies, procedures, and standards for the Program. The bill also codifies the Mixed Delivery Grant Program, which is currently established pursuant to the general appropriation act, for the purpose of awarding grants on a competitive basis to local public entities that enter into partnerships with local private early childhood care and education entities and other community organizations, as applicable, to provide, under the direction and leadership of a lead agency identified in the grant proposal, high-quality care and education, either part time or full time, for at-risk infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children who reside in the locality. The bill requires the Mixed Delivery Grant Program to be administered by the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation in partnership with the Department of Education and, consistent with any provisions relating to the Program in the general appropriation act, requires the Foundation and the Department to establish policies, procedures, and standards for the Program.

Study; joint committee of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health to study fair school funding reform; report. Establishes a joint committee consisting of five members of the House Committee on Education and three members of the Senate Committee on Education and Health to study fair school funding reform by, among other things, utilizing the recommendations from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission in its July 2023 report, "Virginia's K-12 Funding Formula," and any stakeholder input and feedback received by the joint committee to produce and submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Services by the first day of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly an executive summary of its findings and recommendations.